NEWS FROM THE STRANGE, SCARY, STUPID AND UNKNOWN: TARIFFS

 On the 14^th of August a note in the Community Discussions section of mindat.org appeared and it is rather scary, at least if you sell or purchase minerals. As usual, a decree issued in Washington can cause mass confusion and angst out here in the hinterland. What makes the decree scary: Every incoming mineral shipment—even low-value mineral parcels—now faces U.S. import duties and tariffs. The De Minimis exemption ($800 threshold) was suspended for all countries on August 29, 2025. And, it seems that both mineral dealers and buyers are confused about the modus operandi of the tariffs. The following material was abstracted from the MinDat discussions (ongoing) with the original statements submitted by Mark Wrigley who is associated with the mineral auction site at e-rocks/com

 Mark notes there is a lot of confusion out there about the new U.S. tariffs now in place and how this affects us mineral people and our community of interest. Over at e-Rocks we will see some of the likely fallout from this over the next weeks and months so have built a website for anyone to use to understand the different tariffs and new declarations and send/receiving options that are evolving. The site is tariff.rocks and is available to all.

For most readers of this Blog, the export of minerals is of a minor consequence. As it stands, no one really knows what is going to happen except that U.S. exports will no doubt be handled differently in different countries - currently the EU is quite hot at collecting VAT at the border but not 100%, The U.K., a little more relaxed, other places like Australia no problem as there are generous value allowances. This is likely to change in reciprocity to the U.S. Tariffs.

But most of us will be interested with the imports-buying a mineral  specimen requiring shipping to the U.S. Fo one thing the $800 value (no tariffs on items under $800) allowance will go and the tariff will be added depending on where the package is coming from. Evidently, if the tariff is not paid by seller, the  packages will either get through unchecked with a payment on delivery fee of $80-$200 per package depending on country of origin, or checked = Tariff % added plus $8.85 fee charged to the receiver on delivery. So, if the tariff is not paid by the seller then the U.S buyer will pay. How much? Well, a mineral sent by our friends in Canada will cost our U.S collectors a tariff of 35% plus delivery fees, I presume. These fees are likely to cause a large number of “return to sender” parcels as the buyer receives such (large amounts of money) in the mail..

 Perhaps readers thought that tariffs imposed by the U.S. would only cause the price on a well-constructed Japanese or German car world increase in buying price. Well, guess again. Yes, we will pay a premium price on our next new vehicle but also on that new teeny-weeny micromount, and no, the foreign sellers will not fork over the increase as promised (sort of like who will pay for the border wall? Mexico). You, the small-time mineral collector who just wants to buy a nice pyrite specimen, is going to pay. And depending on current country of seller, tariffs rates could be substantial.

 For now, the mineral trading community, and the many small-scale rockhounds, face a new reality: higher costs, fewer shipping options, and zero tolerance for documentation errors. And, don’t even think ask about a gift exemption unless you want someone knocking down your front door wanting to view documentation. And, how will this affect the Tucson shows, and the large number of club shows? If the vendor at a local show buys specimens with an international origin (that is, they purchased from abroad) their costs and selling prices must increase. Will buys pay the extra amount or just turn away? I guess only time will tell.

 My suggestion to readers is to log in to MinDat, move over to Community Discussion, and check the August 14 date. Also, Mark may be able to answer more specific discussions over at e-rocks. Com.

 WAIT A MOMENT, HOT OFF THE PRESS: A federal U.S. appeals court just ruled all of Trump's tariffs illegal... so here comes an appeal and a longer wait to find out what's next. 

 

And that my fellow rockhounds is about the limit of my knowledge about tariffs on minerals. Whoda thought?